Settlement reached over nude-squat incident

KUALA LUMPUR: The suit filed by a woman who appeared in a video recording doing ear-squats in the nude at a police station, reached an out-of-court settlement today.

High Court Judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan recorded the settlement in chambers today in the presence of counsel from both parties.

On Aug 29, 2006, Hemy Hamisa Abu Hasan Saari, a housewife, sued the then Constable Mohd Dzulfatah Saari, who allegedly recorded the picture when she was doing ear-squats without clothes.

In the suit, in which she also named the government as a respondent, the housewife had sought general damages of over RM250,000 as well as exemplary damages, costs and other relief deemed fit by court.

Counsel Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu, who represented Hemy Hamisa, told reporters that his client agreed to a proposal by the respondents for the matter to be settled out of court.

He added that the parties agreed not to disclose the settlement amount.

In her statement of claim, Hemy Hamisa, 28, said that the police arrested her between 1am and 2am on June 29, 2005 on suspicion of being involved in drug abuse and was taken to the Petaling Jaya police station.

She said the video recording had spread widely either through mobile phones, the print media or the Internet.

Following the incident, the Royal Commission of Inquiry was set up in 2005 to determine the identity of the woman. The commission had found that the woman in the video recording doing ear-squats in the nude was her.

Hemy Hamisa said the commission also ruled that ordering a detainee to do ear-squats without clothes was wrong and illegal under the law.

In the their defence, the defendants said squats was a normal practice on suspects in drug cases.

Baljit said the Petaling Jaya Magistrate's Court has set Aug 8 to rule on a drug possession charge against Hemy Hamisa and five others. – Bernama

only worth few hundred k nia ...